Don Fletcher

Rookie firefighter gets hands-on training
AFD Capt. Zack Stewart, left, explains the proper placement of airbags to rookie firefighter Cameron Cloud. Firefighter A.J. Beachy, left, instructs Cameron Cloud on the proper way to use a saw to cut apart a vehicle. By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Although the Atmore Fire Department training session held last Saturday, February 27, included an entire shift of AFD personnel, it was designed primarily for the benefit of just…
Officer assaulted when tries to break up fight
Barton By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer An Atmore man was arrested February 22 after he attacked an Atmore Police Department patrol officer who was trying to break up a fight between the man and another individual. Kelly Andrew Barton, 57, remained in the Escambia County Detention Center late Monday, charged with one count each of harassment, second-degree assault and third-degree assault. He is being held under total bonds of…
Meltdown
Man, 73, tries to hit city cop with car, rams APD unit Sanders By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer A 73-year-old Atmore man, reportedly afflicted with an unspecified mental disorder, was arrested last Wednesday (February 24) and charged with five felonies after he tried to run down a city police officer with his car as an incident at a local bank escalated into a chase into Florida. Lem Roy Sanders,…
Accused of sex with girlfriend’s granddaughter
Simmons By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer An Atmore man is free on $200,000 bond after his February 17 arrest on charges that he had sexual relations with a girl not quite one-third his age. Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks reported that Vincent James Simmons, 52, of a Carver Street address was charged with one count each of second-degree rape and second-degree sexual abuse after an investigation determined that in…
Destructive DUI
Lottie home destroyed by fire when impaired driver runs off road Wasdin Volunteer firefighters try to gain control of the blaze. By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer An Atmore restaurant manager, his wife and their 3-year-old child are trying to put their lives back together after a Lottie man, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, ran his vehicle off a rural road and triggered a fire that sent…